Thursday, February 07, 2013

NY Students Prevail

Students
who organize Palestine Solidarity events on US campuses have come to
expect pro-Israel groups to bully and threaten the university
administration in an effort to cancel their student activities, whether
they are educational workshops or poetry readings.

But pro-Israel advocates crossed a line this month
when they pressured Brooklyn College to cancel an event co-sponsored by
Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voices for Peace (JVP). The
crusade against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS),
led by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) along with torture advocate Alan
Dershowitz, was so heavy handed that it provoked an international
discussion on academic freedom in America.

Perhaps due to the worldwide attention, the college
has (so far) refused to cancel the event scheduled for February 7, in
which leading Palestinian rights activist Omar Barghouti and Jewish
scholar Judith Butler are to discuss Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions
(BDS).

“As with many similar events, the Brooklyn College
event is under attack, based on completely unfounded allegations of
anti-Semitism. The truth is, boycott, divestment and sanctions are
non-violent tools with a long history of being used by civil society to
make social change, notably in the struggle against Apartheid in South
Africa and the civil rights movement here in the United States. In no
way can it be construed as anti-Semitic,” reads a statement by Jewish
Voices for Peace (JVP).

Glenn Greenwald writes in the Guardian UK that “the
ugly lynch mob now assembled against Brooklyn College and its academic
event is all too familiar in the US when it comes to criticism of and
activism against Israeli government policy… But this controversy has now
significantly escalated in seriousness because numerous New York City
elected officials have insinuated themselves into this debate by trying
to dictate to the school’s professors what type of events they are and
are not permitted to hold.”

Al-Awda New York reports: “At first, the demand from
Dershowitz and a handful of city politicians urged the Brooklyn College
political science department to rescind its co-sponsorship. Now, Lewis
Fidler, Assistant Majority Leader of the NYC Council, and several other
members of the City Council are threatening to pull Brooklyn College’s
funding unless the school cancels or condemns the event.”

“Imagine being elected to public office and then
deciding to use your time and influence to interfere in the decisions of
academics about the types of campus events they want to sponsor. Does
anyone have trouble seeing how inappropriate it is – how dangerous it is
– to have politicians demanding that professors only sponsor events
that are politically palatable to those officials? If you decide to
pursue political power, you have no business trying to use your
authority to pressure, cajole or manipulate college professors regarding
what speakers they can invite to speak on campus,” writes Greenwald.

According to Al-Awda, students all along the West
Coast currently face similar censorship attempts. “Students for Justice
in Palestine and Muslim Student Association chapters in the large
University of California system are being subjected to systematic
silencing and intimidation at the local, statewide, and national level.
Lobbying by well-funded pro-Israel groups has led to biased “campus
climate” reports, a California State assembly bill, and spurious
federal complaints (leading to prolonged investigations); all
deliberately and falsely conflating legitimate criticism of Israel with
anti-Jewishness.”

According to their website, the US Department of
Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security is “charged with administering
and enforcing the Antiboycott Laws under the Export Administration Act
of 1979. Those laws discourage, and in some circumstances, prohibit U.S.
companies from furthering or supporting the boycott of Israel sponsored
by the Arab League, and certain Moslem countries, including complying
with certain requests for information designed to verify compliance with
the boycott.”

“Conduct that may be penalized include agreements to
refuse or actual refusal to do business with or in Israel or with
blacklisted companies, and agreements to furnish or actual furnishing of
information about business relationships with or in Israel or with
blacklisted companies… The penalties imposed for each “knowing”
violation can be a fine of up to $50,000 or five times the value of the
exports involved, whichever is greater, and imprisonment of up to five
years. During periods when the EAR are continued in effect by an
Executive Order issued pursuant to the International Emergency Economic
Powers Act, the criminal penalties for each “willful” violation can be a
fine of up to $50,000 and imprisonment for up to ten years.”

It certainly would seem to change the game, however,
if a US company is being urged to boycott Israel by fellow Americans,
not just by the Arab League. It may be time to change the law. At this
point, however, the controversy is just about the right to discuss
boycotting Israel!

Ambassador Chas Freeman in his remarks to the
December 2012 Jubilee Conference of the Council on Foreign and Defense
Policy talked about Israeli Hasbara and the control of narrative as an
element of strategy. Freeman stated that manipulation of information is
an essential element of modern warfare:

“In politics, perception is reality. Narratives
legitimize some perceptions and delegitimize others. Narratives can be
drawn upon to reinforce stereotypes by imposing favorable or pejorative
labels on information and its sources. Such labels predispose recipients
of information to accept some things as credible, to disbelieve others,
and to regard still others as so tainted or implausible that they can
and should be ruled out of order and ignored.” This approach “seeks
actively to inculcate canons of political correctness in domestic and
foreign media and audiences that will promote self-censorship by them.”

What we are seeing now is that pro-Israel Hasbara has
lost its effect on people. It used to be that even just meekly asking
why Jews support Israel would result in the cruel and sudden loss of
childhood friends, but these techniques are no longer working. Students
no longer feel ashamed or afraid of discussing Israel’s brutality
against the Palestinian population. It still happens that people who
advocate for Palestine are attacked, verbally or otherwise. But now,
they are instantly embraced by a warm group of supporters who urge them
to continue speaking.

“We pledge to continue our organizing on campus, to
highlight the Israeli oppression of Palestinians, and to support and
elevate the voices of Palestinian organizers and liberation movements.
We will continue to educate, engage students, and mount campaigns using
the non-violent tactic of boycott, divestment and sanctions. Despite the
threats of powerful figures, we vow to continue to demand justice for
Palestine,” pledged the National Students for Justice in Palestine.